Pneumatic equipment is commonly used in various fields of industry, particularly in the areas of mining and resource extraction. Typically, pneumatically driven equipment is supplied with compressed air from a pneumatic pump via a long pneumatic hose. From time to time, the pneumatic device may accidentally decouple or break-away from the pneumatic hose. Air rushing through the open end of the hose tends to cause the hose to whip and flail violently. Operators and other personnel working near the rupture point may be physically injured by the flailing pneumatic hose. A hose rupture valve located upstream of the rupture point acts to prevent the flailing of the ruptured hose by stopping the flow of air. To date, however, hose rupture valves have been both expensive to purchase and cumbersome to operate. Several prior hose rupture valves required the pressure source to be shut down and the pneumatic fluid bled away before the hose could be recoupled or repaired and normal operation could begin. Other prior hose rupture valves, while permitting a limited flow of fluid through the valve after the rupture of the hose, were very complicated to build and subsequently expensive to purchase.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved hose rupture valve which is inexpensive to manufacture and simple and reliable to operate.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a new and improved hose rupture valve for use in association with a pneumatic or hydraulic hose which operates to stop the excessive flow of fluid through the hose, wherein said rupture valve comprises a housing having an inlet port and an outlet port, and a spring biased apertured vane which is pivotally mounted towards the outlet port. Upon rupture of the hose downstream of the valve, the sudden difference in pressure created between the interior of the hose just downstream of the outlet port and the interior of the housing causes the vane to pivot towards the outlet port and close off said outlet port. The aperture within the vane permits the equalization of the pressure difference between the inside of the outlet port and the inside of the housing when the hose downstream of the rupture valve is recoupled or repaired. This in turn permits the spring biased vane to return to its open position to permit the normal flow of fluid through the valve.